[Spacetrucker]

With all due respect, dfw, your post reads like an apologist’s. Whether the Jews were citizens or not has NO bearing on the horrors the Nazis committed upon them. To even slightly rationalize what the Vichy knew or didn’t know is delusional - they collaborated with the Nazis regime and that alone is enough.

[dfwgator]

So did the Dutch and Belgians, but for some reason, they don’t get picked on nearly as much as the French, despite the fact, as I pointed out, the survival rate for Jews in France was much higher than in those countries.

My goal was to clear up the perception that the vast majority of Jews in France perished during the war, which was not the case.

It’s easy with the benefit of hindsight to know what course of action should have been taken.

But I will stand by my assertion that most people at that time would have dismissed the original reports about the death camps, and probably would have believed that the Nazis were settling the Jews in “Family Camps” in the East, with the mistaken belief that they would actually be safer there. Of course we know better now.

And yes, for mere collaboration alone, Laval and Petain got their just desserts.

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

If they didn't know what the Nazis were doing, or anything approaching the extent of it, their collaboration alone wouldn't be enough because they didn't know what they were collaborating with. Considering that a significant portion of the German high command was in the dark, it wouldn't be a surprise that the Vichy were as well.